C:\Users\Peter>perl -we "print join ':', split('.', '2.3.4')"

C:\Users\Peter>perl -we "print join ':', split('\.', '2.3.4')"
2:3:4

##</code><code>##

C:\Users\Peter>perl -we "print scalar split('.', '2.3.4', -1)"
6
C:\Users\Peter>perl -we "print scalar split('\.', '2.3.4', -1)"
3